A visit to a pet supermarket makes it readily apparent that there is a wide selection of rawhide and other synthetic chew toys manufactured and shaped for dogs and other carnivorous pets to chew on. Pet owners believe chew toys are desirable for cleaning the teeth of dogs and other pets, providing for dental hygiene and resulting in better breath. The chew toys also distract the pet from chewing on other objects such as shoes or furniture.
Many of these chew toys have been made from synthetic materials such as plastic, for example, nylon or even rubber to provide a long lasting chew toy. These synthetic chew toys are indigestible and may pose a health risk if the dog bites off a portion and swallows it. Secondly, these toys may lose a dog's interest because the toy typically has no flavor or other chew incentive.
Other chew toys are made from rawhide or other animal hides. Rawhide and other animal hides have an advantage of being able to be rolled and knotted. Rawhide also provides both a structural rigidity, ductility and durability for chewability. However, rawhide and other animal hides have little or no inherent flavor and thus may lose a dog's interest after only a short chew time. To overcome the lack of flavor and taste of rawhide and other animal hides, many manufacturers have attempted to add flavor to the pet chew by adding jerky, natural flavors to be carried by the structural rawhide and animal hides. Flavors may also be injected into the rawhide, marinated into the rawhide, wrapped in the rawhide or impregnated into the rawhide.
Many people are concerned that the manufacture of rawhide and other animal hides is a relatively unregulated industry. The manufacturing sources of the rawhide or other animal hides may be unknown and the degree of contamination of the rawhide or other animal hides with antibiotics, insecticides or other detrimental toxins for example, lead, may also be unknown. Furthermore, rawhide and other animal hides provide no nutritional benefits and are only slowly digestible if at all.
Rawhide in the world wide market is also becoming scarcer because the hides are being diverted for other purposes, for example, the production of gelatin. As such, rawhide is becoming more difficult and more expensive to obtain resulting in more expense for rawhide treats for pets. These health and economic concerns initiate a desire for dog owners to seek alternative ways to provide an edible chew treat for a pet without the use of rawhide or other animal hides.
Many pet chews recently placed on the market are made from a solid molded wheat based material with glycerin, gelatin, monoglycerides of edible fatty acid, and natural flavor. Some of these treats also contain chlorophyll which is marketed to improve the dog's breath. One such molded plant material composite is molded into an elongated shape with one end shaped like a toothbrush head and an opposite end shaped like an epiphysis i.e. end of a long bone. However, molded pet treats without meat lack a natural incentive for carnivorous pets. Pet chews without rawhide or other hides were molded into thicker shapes for structural integrity. Sheets of vegetable material up till now lacked the needed structural integrity and cohesiveness to stay together.
Co-extruded or molded products have been developed with both a vegetable based outer layer and inner meat based core to provide a meat incentive for a carnivorous pet. However, these co-extruded or molded pet treats lack a knot at one or both ends. The combination of a knot made from sheets of hide material allows for the dog to first grab or hold down the pet treat by clamping its paws down on the knot. Further, the multiple sheets allow the dog to pull the treat apart with its teeth. It is believed that the combination of two abilities, the ability of the dog to hold down the knotted treat with its paws, and the ability of the dog to pull on the treat with its teeth provides for a desirable treat. This accounts for the extreme popularity of knotted pet treats compared to extruded or molded pet treats.
Even though rawhide treats remain popular, a treat made from whole sheets of rawhide are prone to produce waste which adds to the expense of the treat. A layer of rawhide or composite with rawhide and a layer or sheet of jerky laid onto the rawhide layer requires the layers to be assembled and wrapped together and then knotted to provide a bone like appearance. This assembly can be relatively expensive
What is needed is an improved edible pet chew that has an outer layer of hardened and chewable pet treat and having a tied knot that a dog can hold down with its paws while pulling apart with its teeth and is rawhide free and other animal hide free.
What is also needed is a fully digestible pet treat that has a knotted end to provide a meat incentive catering to the carnivorous nature of a dog that is free of rawhide and other animal hides.
What is needed is an improved edible pet chew that is economical to manufacture with a malleable sheet of hardened edible material made that is free of rawhide and other animal hides that is initially malleable for folding, rolling or flexing into a final shape and catering to the carnivorous nature of a dog.
What is also needed is an improved edible pet chew made from a co-extruded sheet of initially malleable but hardenable material that has co-extruded sections that have a different appearance or flavor.